Nail-making machine



Jan. 9, 1968 D. s. FAULKNER NAIL-MAKING MACHINE 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 25, 1965 -9,1968 D.s.F-AULKNER 3,362 035 NAIL-MAKING MACHINE Filed June 23, 1965 9 Sheets-Sheet Z Jan. 9, 1968 D. S. FAULKNER NAIL-MAKING MACHINE 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 23, 1965 Jan. 9, 1968 D. s. FAULKNER 3, 5

NAIL-MAKING MACHINE Filed June 23, 1965 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 amm whom JanVQ, 1968 0. s. FAULKNER 3,362,035

NAIL-MAKING MACHINE Filed June 23, 1965 I 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 Elma/Wu Jan. 9, 1968 D. s. FAULKNER NAIL-MAKING MACHINE 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed June 23, 1965 i 3mm fiozghs 5. @u/i'mw Jan. 9, 1968 D. s. FAULKNER 3,362,035

NAIL-MAKING MACHINE Filed. June 25, 1965 QSheeta-Sheet 7 Jan. 9, 1968' Filed June 23, 1965 D. S. FAULKNER NAIL-MAKING MACHINE 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Dozyias S fkal w Jan. 9, 1968 as. FAULKNER NAIL-MAKING MACHINE QYSheetS-Sheet 9 Filed June 25, 1965 3mm flay/a5 J hallway United States Patent 3,362,035 NAIL-MAKING MACHINE Douglas Stewart Faulkner, Warrington, England, assignor to Rylands Brothers Limited, Warrington, England, a British company Filed June 23, 1965, Ser. No. 466,195 Claims priority, application Great Britain, June 25, 1964, 26,259/ 64 8 Claims. (CI. -43) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Work cutting and work gripping members are actuated by a reciprocating member while rigidity, high speed operation and short operating stroke of the reciprocating member are obtained by arranging the drive shaft, the carrier for the cutting and gripping members and the re ciprocating member in compact form. The reciprocating member has a pair of limbs which straddle the carriers and the drive shaft projects through the limbs of the reciprocating member, the opposite ends of the limbs being rigidly interconnected. The limbs are provided with openings sufiiciently large to clear the drive shaft during reciprocation of the member and the connecting rod journaled on an eccentric between the limbs connects to or reciprocates the reciprocating member.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to machines (hereinafter referred to as a nail-making machine) for the manufacture of headed articles such as nails, rivets and the like, of the kind (hereinafter referred to as the kind specified) in which an approximate nail, rivet or like length is cut from wire or like stock by a cutter means and is held by gripper means for the formation of a head on said out length, the cutter means and gripper means being operated by a reciprocating member which may be similar, in some respects, to the reciprocating member of a power press.

In United States Patent 2,696,013 and British Patent No. 715,433, published Sept. 15, 1954, is described an improved machine and method for the production of wire nails. The mechanism of this improved machine includes the combination of cooperative wire cutting and pointing dies, cooperative wire grippers actuated after operation of said dies so as then to grip the pointed wire length cut off by said dies, and means for heading said wire length while gripped by said grippers as the final step in the fabrication of the nail. This mechanism and method for producing wire nails is to be distinguished from the conventional nail-making machine wherein the wire end is first headed, a predetermined length of said headed Wire being then fed past a cutting off station and the operation of cutting and pointing dies thereafter taking place at said station.

The present invention is generally related to a nailmaking machine such as is described in said United States Patent 2,696,013 and said British Patent No. 715,433 (the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference) but having an improved reciprocating mechanism. More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a nail-making machine of the kind specified with an improved reciprocating mechanism so as to:

(1) Provide compactness of machine design;

(2) Provide for accessibility of the elements of said nail-making machine to facilitate parts replacement and the setting of the operating tools;

(3) Facilitate supervision and observation of the operator of said nail-making machine; and

machine during its operation.

According to the present invention there is provided amachine of the kind specified having a reciprocating member for operating the cutting and gripping means wherein a driving shaft for said reciprocating member passes through said reciprocating member.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention the mechanism for operating the cutter means and gripper means comprises a frame having guides for the reciprocating member and a bearing or bearings for the driving shaft, said bearing or bearings passing through an elongated slot or slots in the reciprocating member.

Conveniently, the reciprocating member is arranged to reciprocate in a vertical or substantially vertical plane and comprises two limbs mounted in vertical guides. At their lower parts these limbs are connected together by a shaft coupled by means of a connecting rod to a crank or eccentric on the driving shaft so that rotation of said driving shaft serves to reciprocate the reciprocating member. At its upper part the latter is provided with bearings for toggle links which operate the cutter and gripper means.

In preferred arrangements the length of the stroke of the reciprocating member is made relatively or very short (less than the length of the stroke of the feed) so as to provide a high production rate.

One particular embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example. In the following description reference is made to the accompanying semidiagrammatic drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a semi-diagrammatic general arrangement drawing showing the machine in side elevation;

FIG. 2 shows in side elevation the straightening roller unit of the machine;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of a feed carriage arrangement for feeding the wire, from which the nails or rivets are made, to the nail-making part proper of the machine;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section on the line V-V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view on the line VI-VI of FIG. 7, and shows in detail the press-like operating mechanism for the nail-making machine;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing in greater detail a part of the actual nail-making mechanism of the machine;

FIG. 8a is a horizontal sectional view illustrating the cooperative relationship between the cutting and pointing tools, the nail grippers, centering and stripper guide and header;

' FIG. 9 is a sectional view on the line IX-IX of FIG. 10 showing the nail-making mechanism with the front plate 94 and center bridging piece 61 removed;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic plan view of the nail-making part of the machine and shows in particular the cutter and gripper mechanism;

FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 show the cycle of operation of the cutting and pointing means (with the cutting tools having been omitted for purposes of illustration); and

FIGS. 15, 16 and 17 show the cycle of operation of the gripper means (with the gripper dies having been omitted for purposes of illustration).

Referring first to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, briefly the machine comprises a frame 10 on the upper part on which there is mounted, for successive operation on the wire stock to be made into nails, a wire straightening mechanism 11, a wire feeding mechanism 12 and the nailmaking mechanism proper 13.

The wire straightening mechanism (see FIGURES 2 and 3) comprises lower grooved rollers 14 mounted for rotation about horizontal axes in bearing blocks 16. The bearing blocks 16 are adjustable vertically by means of screw devices 17. Associated with the rollers 14 are upper grooved rollers 18 adapted to rotate about horizontal axles 19 mounted in a vertically adjustable carriage 20. The rollers 14 and 18 are urged apart by means of springs 21 located between the carriage and the block 22 in which the bearing blocks 16 are mounted. The rollers 14 and 18 are brought into operative relationship, for straightening the wire in the vertical plane, by means of a cam or eccentric device 23 having an operating handle 24. The cam device 23 acts against the spring devices 21.

The straightening mechanism also comprises grooved rollers 25 mounted for rotation about vertical axles 26. The axles 26 are mounted in slidable bearing blocks 27 which can be adjusted horizontally by means of screw devices 2S. The bearing blocks 27 are mounted in a main bearing block 29. Associated with the grooved rollers 25 are further grooved rollers 30 mounted for rotation on vertical axles 31. The axles 31 are mounted in a horizontally slidable carriage 32. Springs 3 3 are located between the main bearing block 29 and the carriage 32 so as to urge the rollers 30 away from the rollers 25. The rollers 25 and 30 are brought into operative relationship against the action of the springs 33 by means of a cam or eccentric 34 having an operating handle 35.

In using the machine the handles 24 and 35 are first operated so as to separate the rollers 18 from the rollers 14 and the rollers 30 from the rollers 25. The wire can then readily be passed between the straightening rollers. When this has been done the handles 24 and 35 are operated so as to bring the rollers into operative relationship. The rollers then operate on the wire to straighten it both in the vertical and horizontal plane as it is fed by the feeding mechanism 12 to the nail-making mechanism proper 13. It will be appreciated that the wire stock will generally come from a coil of wire and it is very necessary, therefore, to straighten it before it is fed to the nailmaking mechanism proper.

The wire-feeding mechanism (see FIGURES 4 and 5) comprises feed rollers 36 mounted in a carriage 37 adapted to be reciprocated horizontally on guide tubes 38. The guide tubes 38 are mounted in a bracket member 39 (see FIGURE 1) secured to the upper part of the main frame 10. Reciprocation of the carriage '37 and feed rollers '36 is effected by means of arms 40 mounted on a shaft 41 adapted to be rocked from a crank and crank disc mechanism 42, 43 through a connecting rod 44 and an arm 45 fixed to one end of the rock shaft 41. The crank disc 43 is mounted for rotation on the main driving shaft 5 of the machine.

The wire is led between the feed rollers 36 and the arrangement is such that when the feed carriage 37 moves to the right (as viewed in FIG. 4) it makes an idle stroke with respect to the wire, Whereas when it moves in the opposite direction the rollers 36 grip the wire by means of a taper grip action and feed an appropriate length of it to the nail-making mechanism proper 13 in synchronization with the operation of the latter.

To prevent the wire from being carried back during the idle stroke a further set of rollers is provided in a stationary unit 37a. This unit is somewhat similar to the unit 36, 37 in that the rollers in both are arranged in their respective carriages in the same manner. Because the unit 36, 37 is movable and unit 37a is stationary, however, the effective Wire gripping action of unit 36, '37 will be opposite to that of unit 37a. Thus, when feed carriage 37 moves to the left as shown in FIG. 4, unit 37a will effectively be idle or passive with respect to the wire; when feed carriage 37 moves in the opposite or non-feed direction, however, the rollers in unit 37a will grip the wire to permit the rollers 36 to break their grip on the wire. The result will be that feed carriage 37 will return to the extreme right of the mechanism shown in FIG. 4

in an idle stroke without moving the wire stock backwards.

The wire feeding mechanism also incorporates guides for the wire.

Details of the wire-feeding mechanism and its operation are set forth in British Patent 984,608 and United States Patent 3,109,571, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

The nail-making mechanism proper 13 comprises a fixed housing 90 mounted on frame 10 which includes a transverse guideway 47 (see FIGURE 10) and parallel therewith a further transverse guideway 48. Mounted for reciprocatory movement in a horizontal plane in the guideway 47 are opposed tool holders 49 for the cutter tools 50 (see FIGURES 8a and 11) which cut off the wire stock and point the nail N. Slidably positioned in the guideway 48 are oppositely disposed tool holders 51 which carry the nail grippers 52 (see FIG. 11). The tool holders 49 and 51 are reciprocated in the guideways 47 and 48 through toggle links 53 and 54, respectively. The toggle links are actuated by a press-like operating mechanism. This press-like operating mechanism is shown more particularly in FIGS. 6 and 7 and comprises a fixed part 55 of the main frame 10, having roller bearings 56 for the main shaft S. The main shaft may be provided with a fly-wheel (not shown) which can also serve as a belt pulley for driving the mechanism. The frame part 55 incorporates vertical guideways in which are slidably located the downwardly extending limbs 58 of the reciprocating member of the mechanism. On the opposite sides the limbs 58 are provided with slides 59 (e.g., slides of V cross-section) which slide in the channelled guideways 60.

At their upper ends the two limbs 58 of the reciprocating member, which are slotted at 62 and 63 to respectively receive the toggle links 53 and 54, are connected together by bridging pieces 61 (which bridging pieces may, if desired, be formed into a single bridging unit) and have bearings 64 for the shafts 65 and 66 (see FIGURES 11 to 17) which carry the toggle links 53 and 54. At their innermost ends the toggle links are connected to the tool holders 49 and 51 by pivot pins 67 and 68 respectively.

Mounted on the main shaft S of the machine is an eccentric or crank 69 which, through a connecting rod 70 and a shaft 71, imparts rcciprocatory movement, in a vertical plane, to the reciprocating member 58, 61 of the mechanism.

By virtue of the fact that the reciprocating member 58, 61 of the nail-making mechanism of the present invention is constructed of a plurality of limbs 58 which are rigidly secured together at their upper ends by a bridge 61 and at their lower ends by means of the shaft 71, member 5 8, 61 is extremely rigid and the life of which at the high speeds of operation which this machine can accomplish will be significantly long.

It will be noted, from FIGURES 6 and 7, that the main shaft S and its bearings 56 pass through the limbs 58 of the reciprocating member which are formed with vertically elongated openings 72 for that purpose. It will also be noted that the arrangement is such that the reciprocating member has a very short stroke.

Referring now more particularly to FIGURES 11 to 17 inclusive, it will be observed that the toggle links 53 for operating the cut-off tool holders 49 and the toggle links 54 for operating the gripper tool holders 51 are separately pivotally mounted in the limbs 58 of the reciprocating member by means of the pivot pins 65 and 66. It will also be noted that the pivot pins 65 and 66 are not coaxial as can be seen more particularly from FIGURE 11 and FIGURES l4 and 15. This non-alignment of pivot pin axes serves the purpose of causing the cutting and pointing operation to precede the gripping operation.

Furthermore, the length B of the toggle links 54 is greater than the length A of the toggle links 53 and said 75 links and the tool holders 49 and 51 and the pivotal con nections 65 and 66 of the parts are arranged, as shown in FIGURES 12 to 16 inclusive, so that a relatively short portion of the stroke of the vertically reciprocating member 58, 61 is utilized for cutting and pointing by the cutters 50 and a relatively longer period is available for the nail-heading operation (hereinafter to be described) during which the shank of the nail is gripped by the grippers 52.

It will be appreciated that with a toggle link motion as above described the only period when the gripper tool holders 51 can theoretically remain stationary is when the links 54 and the grippers 52 are at a deadcenter position. The present invention makes use of the fact that the rate of acceleration is slow for a convenient distance above and below said dead-center position. This slow rate of acceleration is used to provide a substantially constant and sufliciently long grip period commensurate with that obtaining, in orthodox nail-making machines, by the use of appropriately profiled cams. It will be appreciated from what has just been stated that it is desirable that the links 54 should, within reason, be made as long as possible.

If the links 54 cannot be made long enough to provide the necessary stationary or gripping period then the length C of the gripper tool holders 49 (see FIGURE can be increased to provide pre-load condition, i.e., a lengthened period during which there is no material motion of the gripper tool holders 51 sufiicient to make them lose their grip on the nail shank.

It will be appreciated from what has just been stated that the length B of the links 54 and the length C of the tool holders 51 is of extreme importance in providing constant gripping during heading of a nail.

Turning now to the links 53 it is important that the length A of these links should be kept as short as possible so that there is only a short period of time between closing and opening of the cutting tool carriers 49.

The toggle mechanisms above described for the operation of the cutters and grippers forms the subject matter of British application for Letters Patent No. 33,427 of 1964 and no claim is made herein for said mechanisms.

As best shown in FIGURES 8, 8a and 9, mounted in a groove 99 in the central housing block 91 of fixed housing 90 is a wire centering stripper guide 92. (Only groove 99 is shown in FIGURE 8, guide 92 having been omitted from this figure for ease of illustration.) This guide 92 is positioned between tool holders 49 and 51 and, as shown in \FIGURE 9, is provided with a bevel 93 on its wire entering side facing the front end plate 94 of the machine to facilitate entry of the wire stock. This guide 92 performs the function which was performed by the wire centering guide means included in the mechanism of United States Patent 2,696,013 and British Patent No. 715,433 in that it serves to center the wire stock in a horizontal plane before the latter passes between the nail grippers 52 so that the stock will be gripped and headed properly. But guide 92 also serves another significant purpose. More specifically, when newly made gripper dies having freshly made grooves are utilized, the wire stock will often stick to one of the dies when they separate after the heading operation. If this happens, the finished nail will not be rejected properly from the machine and the next succeeding nail to be formed will be crushed into this nail. Faulty nails will be the inevitable result of this operation. The guide 92 avoids this problem by effectively fixing a limit on the extent of lateral movement which can be made by the finished nail as the gripper dies separate, necessarily resulting in the dislodging of any nail sticking to one of the gripper dies after the heading operation.

As shown in FIGURE 8a, a flared wire entry guide 97 is threaded into front end plate 94 and secured against removal by lock nut 98. The machine also contains a back plate 100 which is shown specifically in FIGS. 8, 8a and 11.

The heading mechanism for the nail ('see FIGURES 1, 8, and 8a) comprises an elongated member 73 having an externally threaded end portion 74 and a header portion 75 whose end face 76 abuts against the wire stock at the proper point during the operation of the nail-making mechanism to form the nail head. As shown in FIGURE 8, the threaded end portion 74 is screwed into a tapped cylindrical receiver 77 to permit the position of the header portion 75 to be longitudinally adjusted relative to the wire stock.

After the nail has been pointed and cut off from the wire stock and while it is being held by the grippers, the end of the thus pointed and cut nail which protrudes beyond the grippers 52 and which is adjacent the face 76 of the header portion 75 is struck by the latter to form the nail head 96. A general description of this operation will be set forth below, though details of the operation and the exact sequence of manipulative steps which take place are set forth in US. Patent 2,696,013 and British Patent -No. 715,433.

As will be apparent, the configuration of the head which is formed on the cut wire stock by means of the heading mechanism can be varied by modification of the configuration of the header end face 76.

The header 73 is operated by means of a bellcrank lever 78 (see FIGURE 1) pivoted at 79 on a support 88 forming a base portion of the nail-making mechanism 13 and which is integrally secured to main frame 10 of the machine and pivotally attached to the hammer at 80 and to the reciprocating member 58, 61 at 81. Thus, the hammer is operated at the appropriate time in synchroniza tion with the operation of the cutters and grippers by the reciprocating member "58, 61 to head the nail.

To effect positive discharge of the finished nail an ejector lever 82 (see FIGURE 8) is pivotally supported on the end plate 94 of the machine at 83. Mounted on the vertically reciprocating member 5-8, 61 is a spring-loaded catch 84. During downward movement of this reciprocating member, to make a nail, the spring-loaded catch 84 slides over the inclined face 85 of the lever 82. During the return, i.e., upward movement of the reciprocating member 58, 61 following the completion of the nail, the catch 84 engages the lever 82 and, as it passes it, rocks the lever so that its end 86 engages the nail and ejects the completed nail into a discharge chute 87.

While the operation of the nail-making mechanism proper of the present invention Will be apparent from the foregoing description and through reference to the disclosures of US. Patent 2,696,013 and British Patent No. 715,433, a brief summary of this operation will follow. Generally speaking, wire stock is fed by the wire-feeding mechanism through wire entry guide 97 to an extent equal to an approximate nail length. At this point, the lead end of the wire stock will project slightly beyond gripper dies 52 and the wire stock will be located in the U-shaped opening of guide 92, In the next step, the wire stock, which is centered by means of the guide 92, is cut and pointed by means of cutter tools 50, the grippers 52 not yet having gripped the lead end of the wire stock so as to permit creep of the wire from the cutting and pointing action. Next, the severed nail length is tightly gripped by grippers 52 at a point adjacent its front end. As will be apparent, the grippers 52 will have closed sufiiciently about the Wire stock before the cutting and pointing operation is completed (though not so tightly as to prevent creep of the wire, as above stated) for loosely holding the cut nail to prevent it from dropping out of axial alignment with the gripper grooves before the heading operation. The tightly gripped cut wire stock is then headed at 70 its extreme front end by header 73 and, finally, the thus the making of nails but of rivets and other formed and beaded shapes.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics the'reofTh present embodiments are therefore to be cons'idered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which conic within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is: p a

p 1. A machine for making nails comprising a fixed mem ber; a reciprocating member reciprocally mounted with respect to said fixed member and having an opening. of predetermined dimension in the direction of reciprocation; a drive shaft rotatably mounted with respect to said fixed member and passing through said opening in said reciprocating member; said predetermined dimension of the opening being suflicient to clear said drive shaft as said reciprocating member is reciprocated; said drive shaft having an eccentric; means connecting said eccentric to said reciprocating member so as to cause said reciprocating member to reciprocate upon rotation of said drive shaft within said opening in said reciprocating member; cutter means for cutting wire stock to be formed into a nail; gripper means for gripping said wire stock during the nail-making operation; and linkage means connecting said reciprocating member to said cutter means and said gripper means to actuate the latter two means upon reciprocation of said reciprocating member.

2. A machine as defined in claim 1 additionally including header means for forming the lead end of said wire stock while said wire stock is gripped securely by said gripper means; and means actuated by movement of said reciprocating member for operating said header means in synchronization with the operation of said cutter means and said gripper means.

3. A machine for making nails comprising a fixed member; a reciprocating member reciprocally mounted with respect to said fixed member; said reciprocating member being formed of at least two limbs which are spaced from but securely connected to one another; said limbs being connected to one another near one of their ends with first connecting means; said limbs being connected to one another near the other of their ends with second connecting means; a drive shaft mounted for rotation relative to said fixed member and passing through said reciprocating member; third means connecting said drive shaft to one of said first and second connecting means so that on rotation of said drive shaft, said reciprocating member is caused to reciprocate; cutter means for cutting wire stock to be formed into a nail; gripper means for gripping said wire stock during the nail-making operation; and means connecting said reciprocating member to said cutter means and said gripper means to actuate the latter two means upon reciprocation of said reciprocating member.

4. A machine as defined in claim 3 wherein said drive shaft contains an eccentric; said third connecting means connecting said eccentric to one of said first and second connecting means so that on rotation of said drive shaft, said reciprocating member is caused to reciprocate.

5. A machine as defined in claim 4 wherein said fixed member is provided with guideway means; said limbs of said reciprocating member being slidably supported for reciprocatory movement in said guideway means.

6. In a nail-making machine of the type having a fixed frame including a housing portion, cutter means slidably carried by said housing portion, gripper means slidably carried by said housing portion, a reciprocating member, and linkage means connecting said reciprocating member to said cutter means and said gripper means to actuate the latter two means upon reciprocation of said reciprocating member, the improvement comprising:

a drive shaft journaled in said frame,

said reciprocating member including a pair of limbs straddling said housing portion and having openings therein through which said drive shaft passes and which are dimensioned in the direction of reciprocation of said reciprocating member to clear said drive shaft,

means rigidly interconnecting the opposite ends of said limbs,

said drive shaft having an eccentric between said limbs,

and a connecting rod journaled on said eccentric and pivotally connected to said reciprocating member to impart reciprocation thereto in response to rotation of said drive shaft.

7. A nail-making machine comprising, in combination a fixed frame having a pair of spaced parts,

a housing fixed to and bridging between said frame parts,

a reciprocating member having a pair of limbs slidably engaged with respective ones of said frame parts and straddling said housing,

means rigidly interconnecting opposite ends of said limbs,

a drive shaft having longitudinally spaced portions journaled in respective ones of said frame parts and an intermediate eccentric disposed between said limbs,

cutter means slidably carried by said housing,

gripper means slidably carried by said housing,

a pair of toggle links carried by each of said limbs and connected to said cutter means and said gripper means respectively for actuating the latter two means in response to reciprocation of said reciprocating member,

and means for causing said eccentric to reciprocate said reciprocating member in response to rotation of said drive shaft.

8. A nail-making machine according to claim 7 wherein said last mentioned means is a connecting rod journaled on said eccentric, one of said means rigidly interconnecting opposite ends of said limbs being a shaft, and said connecting rod being pivotally connected to said shaft.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,564,739 8/1951 Theodore 1051 2,696,013 12/1954 Theodore 1050 LEONIDAS VLACHOS, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM W. DYER, JR., Examiner. 

